More than 81k sign up in Pa. for insurance

President Barack Obama speaks about his signature health care law, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2013, in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Government figures released Monday show that more than 81,000 Pennsylvanians have enrolled under the federal health care law, a sharp increase from the 11,800 who were signed up at the end of November.

The Obama administration now says that more than 2 million Americans enrolled for insurance under the Affordable Care Act by the end of December, and some statistical details for each state were released.

In Pennsylvania, 56 percent of the people who enrolled were women and 44 percent men. That’s similar to the national average of 54 percent women.

The breakdown by age showed that 39 percent of the people in Pennsylvania were between 55 and 64 years old, and 24 percent were between 18 and 34. The national figures were 33 percent for the older group and 24 percent for the younger.

The government said 76 percent of the people who signed up in Pennsylvania received financial assistance and 24 percent didn’t. That’s also just three percentage points different from the national average.

Some questions remained unanswered.

For example, the administration is unable to say how many of those enrolling for coverage had been previously uninsured. Some might have been among the more than 4.7 million insured people whose previous policies were canceled because they didn’t meet the law’s standards.

Open enrollment in the program ends March 31, and the Obama administration has a goal of 7 million sign-ups by then.